On Sunday I saw five speakers - four comedians and a Church of Scotland minister. All five touched on various issues of the world, and one of them offered what I think is a solution.
The four comedians were at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Hannah Gadsby, Dave Callan, Shappi Khoursandi and Rich Hall. They were all excellent, and all covered different issues.
Hannah Gadsby spoke about the difficulties of being gay in a small town. She's from Circular Head, Tasmania, and among other things, her comedy pokes fun at the strange mannerisms and at times small-mindedness of folks from the country. Like many people in rural Australia, she found it tough being different, and the tendency of people in rural areas to fear what they don't understand has had an impact on her life.
Shappi Khoursani is an Iranian-Brit. She immigrated from Iran to London when she was a toddler and her comedy discusses the difficulties she faced in England. She told stories (in an extremely funny way) about racism she was subject to. She also talked about how her father, a famous writer who was critical of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was sent numerous death threats and eventually his assassination was ordered by the Ayatollah of Iran (it was unsuccessful). These terrifying experiences have certainly had an impact on her, but she has turned it around and built a successful comedy career out of her sense of humour and life experience.
American comedian Rich Hall, who I know best from his appearances on QI with Stephen Fry, spoke about many, many problems that he sees in the world. He spoke about the UK riots, the American banking bust, the Global Financial Crisis, gay marriage, the Norway massacre and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among many other things. As painfully hilarious as he was, he also gave a dour outlook on the state of the world, and despaired with his audience about how nothing was being done to help it. He didn't, however, offer a solution… which brings us to Reverend Anne Job.
Anne Job is a minister of the Church of Scotland in Fife and she was speaking at Dysart Kirk, where I went with two of my wife's family members, who we were staying with in the area. No matter whether you're Christian, atheist, Muslim, Buddhist, or anything else, her message was powerful. If you're thinking of stopping reading now that I'm about to quote the Bible, I urge you to keep going… it will all make sense soon.
She spoke primarily about Matthew 22:36-39 which says
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
Jesus replied: '"Love the Lord your God with all our heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself'"
Reverand Job spoke a lot about "love your neighbour", and the more she spoke the more I realised… that's the answer.
I don't know whether it happened recently, or whether it's always been the case, but most people seem to be primarily focussed on what makes THEM happy, and what keeps THEM comfortable.
I don't think this is very sustainable. If we were living in a society where you had to fight to stay alive and hunt your own food and defend your land, then this sort of mentality would be completely understandable. If we were living in tribes in caves, and battling over limited resources and concerned that at any moment a bear might run into our den and eat us then it would be understandable. But we're not.
I'm going to assume now that you're reading this in a 21st century first world country. If you're not, then go about your business, and a hearty congratulations on making the internet work.
For those in a western country… you live in a society where everybody needs everybody else. We all need people to make our food (or at least grow it) we all need our government to function properly, and we all need people to drive properly on the road so that the cars don't all bump into each other.
What we need to realise is that if everyone was a bit nicer and more considerate of each other, then everyone would be happier. Love your neighbour.
If everyone (including the government) was a bit nicer to the underclass in Britain, they might not be looting. If bankers and businessmen on Wall Street were a bit nicer to their customers, and weren't too keen to line their own pockets, the American economy may not be ruined. If the world's political parties were a bit nicer to each other, and thought a bit more about the people they're supposed to represent, there might be some direction on things. If truck companies and drivers thought a bit more about the other people on the road, there might not be so many road accidents. If the people concerned about their company's bottom line thought a bit more about future generations, Australia might not be having a ridiculous argument about carbon pricing.
If people were a bit nicer and more considerate to Hannah Gadsby and Shappi Khoursani, they may have had easier childhoods, and if the Ayatollah of Iran was more considerate of his people, then Shappi's father wouldn't have written anything worth threatening death over.
It really solves most problems. It's not complicated and it's not new. Love your neighbour… just be a bit nicer to people.
Then again if that happened, what would the news report, and what would comedians talk about?
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